Cotton seed

billy336

Senior Member
Considering a supplemental cotton seed program in our lease. Would like to hear some pros and cons from those who have gone this route. TIA
 

aabradley82

Senior Member
it will make bucks sterile so don’t feed later in the year. I’m not sure how long to let it flush out of their system
 

Long Cut

Senior Member
It works, more popular in Texas where they have to feed due to drought, soil type...

As mentioned it lowers testosterone levels so you have to taper off around September, but it’s a great feed that’s more affordable and high in protein.
 

davel

Senior Member
I asked a biologist from the UGA deer lab that very question and he said if it were the only source of food then becoming sterile might be an issue but since they have other sources of food it wouldn't be a problem.
 

Spooner

Senior Member
Read the Texas A&M study back in 2013, and articles by Texas Wildlife Biologist Macy Ledbetter and you might change your mind about feeding whole cottonseed. I researched every article I could find for about 8 months, searched hunting forums in Texas, talked with low fence ranch owners, 2,500 acre lease managers and small parcel hunters and they love feeding whole cottonseed because deer don't eat as much (it fills them up I think-not 100% sure but compared to protein pellets John Sewell in the YouTube Story of Fortified Cottonseed says from detailed record keeping that the deer on the 35,000 acre Harris Ranch in Uvalde, TX consume about 1# of cottonseed compared to 2.5-3.5 #'s of protein pellets so he's saving a lot of money on supplemental feeding 365 days a year-he only spin casts corn during hunting season around blinds to help hunters see deer in the daylight and he hasn't had any problems with fawn recruitment meaning the male deer were fertile and bred successfully ). Several people are feeding cottonseed bought in bulk at cotton gins but I wanted it in bags because it's much easier to manage so some friends and I shipped a ton of Fortified Cottonseed with vitamins and minerals in a powder form added to it to Ball Ground, Ga from Hale City, TX. I do a 50/50 mix with Buck Muscle Crumbles and 99% of my feed has been consumed by deer with a small amount to squirrels sifting the small grain pieces out of the mix since 3/2/23. I also have water right next to it and Purina Minerals. I've talked with Protein Feed companies and deer managers in Georgia and Alabama and the 1st response is most always it will cause infertility in male deer but if that concerns you wean them off when antler velvet sheds. I begin searching for a feed that raccoons wouldn't eat and I found whole cottonseed and only ruminants with 4 stomachs can digest it so raccoons, squirrels, crows, birds, and black bear don't eat it (they may nibble on it and find out they don't like it). The 2013 study says wild hogs won't eat it but a guy feeding cottonseed in South Georgia sent me pictures with hogs standing in his trough eating it but he said they didn't consume as much as when eating other feeds. Reseach Steel Outdoors feeders and you'll see that a raccoon can consume 5#'s of corn a night and I've had 9 in a trail camera picture before. I also think raccoon populations have exploded and are causing the wild turkey population to plummet in recent years because of more ground nest predation by them and opossums-that may be why Ga passed a law in June of 2022 allowing hunting & trapping of them 365 days a year. In the 2013 study Texas A&M found turkey populations were low in vicinity of feeders and in 2018 Ga started allowing hunting over bait and now almost every small tract around has corn being fed because it's cheap and easy to pick up on the way home for everybody. I'm not an expert but I have several years of experience experimenting with different protein feeds, corn, apples, etc. and years of observation by trail camera and I'm very happy to save money feeding Fortified Cottonseed mixed with Buck Muscle Crumbles, with minerals and water in a tubs that are covered so the feed is kept dry. I'm talking with my local feed store about becoming a dealer so it's available locally but a lot of folks are mostly unfamiliar with it. Tractor Supply had Antler King's Cotton Candy last fall and is supposed to have Big & J's Cotton Crave in stores in June but I think the non-target animals will still consume a lot of that mix like they did last fall. Don't hang me for sharing this information because cottonseed is spreading across the country from Texas and in my opinion will be in Georgia everywhere in the coming years the deer self-regulate how much they consume and it's much better for deer than 6% protein corn. I have a lot of pictures of the deer eating cottonseed and will add some more later.
 

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